Hank Skinner

Henry Watkins "Hank" Skinner (born April 4, 1962) was convicted of bludgeoning to death his live-in girlfriend, Twila Busby, and stabbing to death her two mentally impaired sons, Randy Busby and Elwin Caler. The murders occurred on December 31, 1993 at 801 East Campbell Avenue in Pampa, Texas. Skinner was convicted of the murders on March 18, 1994, and sentenced to death on March 23, 1995. Skinner had been previously prosecuted for assault and car theft by the very attorney who was in charge of his defense, Harold Comer. His criminal history was asserted by the prosecution at his sentencing hearing as reason to find him a "danger to society" — justifying his execution — and the defense did not object. .

Accusation of cronyism

Skinner maintains his innocence, and continues to appeal his conviction. Skinner's appointed trial attorney, Harold Lee Comer was a former district attorney who had prosecuted Skinner in earlier cases, before losing his position and pleading guilty to criminal charges over the mishandling of cash seized in drug cases. The Washington Post cited Comer's appointment as an apparent case of cronyism, where Comer was appointed to a highly-paid case by a friend in order to help him raise the funds needed to pay off his overdue federal income taxes.

Articles and TV programs about the case

Skinner is author of a series of articles, "Hell hole News"., which are similar to the "Uncensored from Texas Death Row" of his friend Paul Colella, whose death sentence is now commuted into a life sentence.

On November 10, 2007, Al Jazeera International aired a two-part program entitled "American Justice - Fatal Flaws", part 2 below deals with wrongful convictions through Hank's case and Curtis McCarty's who was exonerated from Oklahoma death row after 22 years.

As of February 2010, the Hank Skinner case is included in the Medill Innocence project of Professor David Protess.

In March, 2010, The Skeptical Juror site carried a 10-part series reprising the facts of the Hank Skinner case, and updates daily.

Texas Attorney General's Execution Notice

On March 17, 2010, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a media advisory relating to Skinner's upcoming execution and summarizing details of the case that sent Skinner to death row.

Among other things Abbott's letter tended to counter the claims made by Skinner's supporters by showing that DNA testing had been performed on the blood-stained clothing Skinner was found wearing at the time of his arrest. The blood stains matched two of the victims.

The advisory also reported that Skinner had previously been convicted for aggravated assault on a police officer as well as several other felonies. His wife also testified in court Skinner was abusive to her, and that she left Skinner after he threatened to use an ax handle to beat her to death.

Appeals repeatedly denied

Skinner's most recent appeal, a federal habeas corpus petition centering on inadequate performance by his trial attorney on issues involving the investigation of an alternative suspect and a blood spatter analysis, was denied by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on July 14, 2009. On August 10, 2009, Skinner's Defense team introduced a new petition for a rehearing en banc with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The petition was rejected on August 28, 2009. On November 23, 2009, Hank Skinner's attorneys filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States.

DNA issue

Skinner's defensors have repeatedly tried to obtain a DNA analysis of items found on the crime scene, such as a rape kit with vaginal swabs, blood samples found under the nails of the victim, and these requests have been denied on the grounds that the original attorney of Skinner chose not to have them analyzed.

On November 27, 2009, the defense team filed a complaint in federal court against the Gray County DA, Lynn Switzer, for refusing to release the evidence to the defense for private DNA testing, which she can do without a court order. On January 15, the magistrate in charge of the complaint recommended that it be dismissed and on January 20, the Federal district Judge confirmed the dismissal. This decision is being appealed at the Federal Court of Appeals.

Pending execution

On Oct 26, 2009, Judge Steven Emmert signed the order setting an execution date for Hank Skinner on February 24, 2010. The date was then changed to March 24, due to procedural complaints. The Texas Board of pardons and paroles voted unanimously against an additional stay and against a commutation of Skinner's sentence. Governor Rick Perry didn't grant reprieve either.

Last minute reprieve by SCOTUS order

However, one hour before the scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Skinner a stay of execution to allow time to consider his petition for writ of certiorari. The same evening, on the airing of Larry King Live, the wife of Skinner, Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, asserted her belief in his innocence, and Curtis McCarty, exonerated from death row, spoke against executions without full testing of the available evidence.

External links

• Hank Skinner's Official Website
• Website offering counter-point to Skinner propaganda
• Texas Attorney General Media Advisory re Hank Skinner
• Offender Information. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
• Offenders on Death Row. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.